Land Grading
Land grading levels lots and tracts and shapes the ground so water runs off. We do rough grading and finish grading with heavy equipment for developers, ranch owners and oil and gas operators.
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Site preparation turns raw or cleared ground into a firm, level pad ready to build on. Bankston's Builders does site preparation for commercial buildings, data centers, oilfield locations and custom homes. We cut and fill to the grades on your plans, then compact the pad in lifts. Many people just call it site prep.
On raw land, land clearing is often the first phase, and site preparation picks up from there. We do the work with heavy equipment our crews know well: dozers, excavators, skid steers and a compactor. It is one part of our dirt work in Fort Worth and across Texas.
Tell us about the land or the building project and where it is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.
Every pad starts with the plans. A commercial pad follows a grading plan and a geotechnical report. The report says what the soil is and how to build on it. Before digging, Texas law requires notice to Texas 811 so buried lines get marked.
First we strip the topsoil and roots off the pad area. Next comes a proof roll, where a heavy loaded roller runs over the ground. TxDOT's road specifications use the same test to find unstable areas. Soft spots get reworked before any fill goes on.
We place fill in thin lifts and bring each one to its target moisture before the compactor works it. A lab test on the soil sets the target density and moisture. On commercial work, field tests check each lift against that target. The last lift lands at the finished pad grade.
Much of the ground around Fort Worth is clay that swells when it gets wet and shrinks as it dries. In the federal soil survey, a clay soil called Sanger covers more of Tarrant County than any other. The survey rates it very limited for houses on a slab and names high shrink-swell as the reason.
On clay like that, moisture gets as much attention as density. TxDOT's road specs want high-swell clay compacted at or above its target moisture, with a density cap. For building pads, the geotechnical report sets those numbers.
Some reports call for select fill, a lower-swell soil brought in to build the top of the pad. Once the pad passes its tests, the concrete work for the slab can start.
The steps stay the same, but the size and the paperwork change. A house pad for a custom home is one pad on one lot, built to the height on the plans. For developers, we can level several lots in a row and build the pads one after another.
Commercial and data center pads cover more ground. Data center campus pads are part of our data center site work, along with access roads and conduit trenches.
Out west, an oil and gas location is a pad too, often built with caliche. Those pads and their lease roads fall under our oilfield construction work in the Permian Basin.
Call or text for a written quote. We work about 300 miles around Fort Worth across DFW, West Texas and the Hill Country.
(214) 557-5106From the first call or text to the finished work, here is how it goes.
Call or text (214) 557-5106, or send the form. Tell us what the project is, where the land or the building sits and when you need it done.
We go over the tract or the space, the plans and the access for heavy equipment. On dirt work we also look at the ground and where the water runs.
The scope and the price go in writing before any work starts. The quote spells out what gets cleared, cut, built or finished.
Machines and crews come in on the set date. On a dirt job the work runs in order: clearing, the pad or the road, the trenches, then the drainage. On a build, the trades follow the schedule.
The ground is left graded and compacted to the plan, ready for concrete, a building or a rig. On a finish out or a custom home, the work runs through to the finished space.
Common questions about site preparation around Fort Worth and the rest of our Texas service area. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Land grading levels lots and tracts and shapes the ground so water runs off. We do rough grading and finish grading with heavy equipment for developers, ranch owners and oil and gas operators.
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We build private, ranch, lease and haul roads on a compacted base with a gravel or caliche surface. Ditches and culverts move water off and under the road.
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As part of the site work, we dig trenches for water lines and electrical conduit, then backfill and compact them. A licensed plumber or a licensed electrician makes the hookups.
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We build poured concrete retaining walls that hold a cut or a fill on commercial sites, pads and ranch land. The excavation, footing, drainage and compacted backfill come with the wall.
Learn MoreExcavators, dozers, compactors and skid steers do the work, run by crews with real expertise on each machine. The jobs are sized to match: multi-acre clearing, commercial pads, long roads and oilfield locations.
The pad, the concrete and the building can all run through the same company. A custom home starts on a pad we cut and compacted. A commercial project can go from raw land to a finished tenant space.
Developers, oil and gas operators, data center builders and ranch owners all bring us ground to move. Each site gets its own scope, whether that is a detention pond, a lease road or a campus pad.
Tell us about the land or the building and where it sits. We look at the job, then put the scope and the price in writing before any work starts.
What does a building pad cost in Texas? Market ranges for house and commercial pads, fill dirt by the cubic yard, soil reports and compaction tests.
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What does a retaining wall cost in Texas? Market ranges per square foot and per linear foot, and how height, drainage, clay and permits move the price.
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What land clearing costs per acre in Texas: market ranges by brush density, tree size, acreage, slope and disposal method, and what a written quote covers.
Read more →Tell us about the land, the pad, the road or the building and where it sits. Call or text (214) 557-5106, or send the form and we will get back to you with the next step.
Tell us about the land or the building project and where it is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.